Women's Tennis Association

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the main group that organizes women's professional tennis. It runs the WTA Tour, which is the world’s tour for women’s tennis, and it was started to help make the future better for women in tennis. The WTA has its main office in St. Petersburg, Florida, with other offices in London and Beijing.

The Women's Tennis Association began in June 1973 by Billie Jean King. It started from a first tournament called the Virginia Slims, planned by Gladys Heldman and paid for by Joe Cullman, the top leader of Philip Morris. This first tournament happened on September 23, 1970, at the Houston Racquet Club in Houston, Texas, and Rosie Casals won that event.

When the WTA started, Billie Jean King was one of nine players known as the Original 9. These players included Julie Heldman, Valerie Ziegenfuss, Judy Dalton, Kristy Pigeon, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kerry Melville Reid, Nancy Richey, and Rosie Casals. Today, the WTA has more than 2,500 players from almost 100 countries, and they compete for $146 million in prizes.

History

Background

The Open Era of tennis began in 1968, allowing professional players to compete with amateurs. The first Open Tournament was the British Hard Court Championships in Bournemouth. At the first Open Wimbledon, men won much more prize money than women. For example, Rod Laver won £2,000 while Billie Jean King, a top player, won only £750. This showed that women were not being treated fairly in tennis.

Many women players felt they needed to stand up for fair pay. In 1970, nine top women players, led by Billie Jean King, decided not to play in a tournament in Los Angeles because the prize money for women was much lower than for men. Instead, they organized their own tournament in Houston, which was a big success.

WTA Tour

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) was created in 1973 by Billie Jean King and other women players. It was formed to help make sure women players got fair treatment and better opportunities in tennis. In 1975, the WTA made history by signing its first television broadcast deal with CBS.

Over the years, the WTA has grown and changed. Different companies have sponsored the tours, and tournaments have been held all over the world. Today, the WTA organizes many tournaments, from the biggest events like the Grand Slam tournaments to smaller events that help players earn points and prize money.

Main article: WTA Tour

Management

American sports entrepreneur Jerry Diamond helped make important deals for women's tennis from 1974 to 1985.

Larry Scott became leader of the WTA in 2003. He made a big deal with Sony Ericsson, which helped women's sports grow. He left in 2009 to work with a college sports group. Stacey Allaster took over and helped women's tennis grow even more. She left in 2015.

Steve Simon became the new leader in 2015. In 2021, the WTA stopped events in China because of concerns about a player's safety. This changed in 2023. In 2022, a company named Hologic became a main sponsor. In 2025, Valerie Camillo will become the new leader.

Players' Council

The Players' Council is a group of players who help make decisions for the WTA. In 2024–25, the council includes players like Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Garcia, Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari, Donna Vekić, Daria Saville, Gabriela Dabrowski, and Ellen Perez.

Growth milestones

When Avon started supporting women's tennis in 1976, the biggest prize for one tournament was $100,000, given at the Avon Championships. By 2007, all four major tournaments gave the same prize money to men and women. The US Open was the first to do this in 1973, and the Australian Open followed in 1985.

The WTA tour grew a lot over the years. In 1971, Billie Jean King was the first woman to earn over $100,000 in one year. By 1980, more than 250 women were playing professionally, and there were 47 events around the world with $7.2 million in prizes. Many players earned more and more money each year.

WTA rankings

Main article: WTA rankings